In certain situations a single compute node may be shared by multiple users. For example, in the home environment a family may share a single personal computer, notebook computer, tablet computer, and the like. Each user in the family may have a unique profile for the shared computer. That unique profile may include, for example, various cookies that facilitate a user easily logging on to websites. Thus, there may be various profiles with each profile having its own cookies.
This shared compute node scenario can present complications. For example, a father may log into the shared compute node, load his profile, and visit an on-line retailer. Upon doing so, the on-line retailer may recognize cookies associated with the father's loaded profile and automatically load billing information, such as a credit card number and password, based on the recognized cookies. The father may then walk away from the shared compute node. A child may subsequently visit the shared node, which is still logged into the father's profile. The child may then, maliciously or innocently, order merchandise from the on-line retailer using the father's billing information. Of course various other scenarios exist where an unmonitored user profile may provide unintended access to services ranging from email accounts to social media accounts, all of which present concerns if accessed by someone other than the proper user associated with the loaded profile.
These issues may only worsen as the “compute continuum” advances. A compute continuum provides a consistent client-aware connected environment for a user across varying computing devices. A compute continuum may allow a user to watch a movie on a first compute node (e.g., tablet computer), stop watching the movie at chapter X of the movie, and then resume watching the movie at location X from a second compute node (e.g., desktop computer). In doing so, the user may move seamlessly from one compute node to another computer node. With this fluid migration among nodes, the possibility of user profile misuse will be heightened. For example, a user migrating from a first node to a second node may forget to logout (e.g., unload) his profile from the first node, leaving that profile exposed to subsequent users that visit the first node.